Money Smart North Ayrshire

Carer's Allowance Supplement will be paid from 4 December. The payment is only available in Scotland. If you were getting paid Carer Support Payment or Carer's Allowance on 13 October 2025, you will receive £293.50 automatically.

As we continue to pay Child Winter Heating Payment to help families of disabled children and young people to heat their homes, we hear from a mother on the impact of this benefit ⬇️

It’s Day 3 of #ChallengePoverty week & we’re calling for better investment in life’s essentials to ensure everyone has a warm homes and access to better public transport and public services. #WeDemandBetter Read more here 👇 povertyalliance.org/wp-content/upl…

What does tackling poverty & inequality look like at the IS? To mark #ChallengePovertyWeek, Gerard McCormack, Head of Transformation, Performance & Improvement, highlights some of our work to help councils tackle poverty and inequality. Read the blog: twp.ai/4is1v4

Day 3 of #CPW25 @Auchenharvie showcases our wellbeing boxes. These include food, sanitary products, toiletries and school supplies available in various locations throughout the school @CPAGScotland @CPW_Scotland @PovertyAlliance

📢Calling all schools in Scotland! Be part of creating a Young People's Poverty and Education Manifesto this #ChallengePovertyWeek and throughout October. Let's tell the people in charge what has to change in our schools: tinyurl.com/4ebxass6 #CostoftheSchoolDay

#challengepovertyweek25 Day 1 We all know the importance of fueling our bodies, especially in the morning. @Auchenharvie we have breakfast for all pupils available every morning in our school so no young person goes without @CPAGScotland @PovertyAlliance

Day 2 of Challenge Poverty week. Our School’s Welfare Rights Officer, Audrey Ritchie, can offer a range of welfare support. #CPW25 #ChallengePoverty @IrvineRoyalAcad @CPW_Scotland @PovertyAlliance @CPAGScotland @NA_MoneySmart

Our Young Carer Grant is a yearly payment of £390.25 for young carers aged 16 to 18 in Scotland. Find shareable social media content, flyers, posters and factsheets in many languages and help us spread the word to eligible families 🔽 socialsecurity.gov.scot/guidance-resou…

📣 North Ayrshire Council is proud to be one of eight pilot local authorities to receive temporary funding that will now see the free school meals expansion include S1 to S3 school pupils in all nine of our secondary schools, meaning that even more young people across North Ayrshire will have access to a free meal during term time. Funding has been provided for one school year; therefore, this temporary provision will run from Wednesday 20 August 2025 until Tuesday 30 June 2026. S1, S2 and S3 pupils will receive a free school meal if their parent/caregiver is currently in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. Full details in the news release: north-ayrshire.gov.uk/news/free-scho… Currently, the Scottish Government’s free school meal provision covers all Primary 1 to Primary 5 pupils, as well as expanded provision for children in Primary 6 and 7 if their parent or caregiver is in receipt of the Scottish Child Payment. #FightingPovertyNA

Carer Support Payment has replaced Carer's Allowance for people in Scotland. Help us spread the word about Carer Support Payment amongst eligible people with shareable social media content, flyers, posters and factsheets available 🔽 bit.ly/CarerSupportPa…

❌Potential Scam Alert❌ We are receiving a number of enquires regarding next Cost of Living payments due to articles circulating on social media. DWP has confirmed there is no further payments in 2025. Please do not enter any of your personal details with regards to this.

We’re relaunching Money Smart today, incorporating the former Money Matters and Welfare Reform Advice Teams. To read more about Money Smart and changes to the service, read our news article at tinyurl.com/3xkkt6zn

If a client is due a payment between Friday 18 April and Monday 21 April over the Easter bank holiday they will receive it by the end of Thursday 17 April. All other payment dates will stay the same.

More unpaid carers could benefit from financial support due to a key change in eligibility rules. The net earnings limit for Carer Support Payment has increased to £196 a week. Read more: bit.ly/CarersEarnings…

📣 SAVE THE DATE! Our Corporate Parenting team @OneVoiceNA are inviting care experienced people of all ages, their extended family members, and other corporate parents to an upcoming employability and skills event 👇 The first of its kind, the action-packed event will take place on Wednesday 23 April from 10am until midday, at the Volunteer Rooms in Irvine. The event will be set up as a stall format with local partners attending to share information, resources, freebies, taster activities, course sign-ups, feedback opportunities, advocacy, welfare rights, and much more... It is part of the council’s wider Corporate Parenting Strategy to meet its statutory duties to #KeepThePromise to Scotland’s care experienced community – in this case those living and studying in North Ayrshire. ‘Care Experienced’ is a now widely used term to describe any person who has experience of being in care, regardless of the placement length, type or age. Care may have been provided in one of many different settings, such as residential care, foster care, kinship care or through being looked after at home with a supervision requirement. 🌟 Confirmed stall holders attending the upcoming event are: ➡️ Ancho/Kando – with information on support for young people aged between 14-19 who are not currently in school, college or employment. This includes cognitive behaviour therapy, volunteering opportunities and learning practical skills ➡️ Ayrshire College – with information on courses and training in further education ➡️ Ayrshire Independent Living Network - AILN – raising awareness of their services to help increase understanding of the self-directed support available locally ➡️ Barnardo's – providing support to children and young people so that they can feel safe, overcome barriers and realise their potential ➡️ CEIS Ayrshire– job-seeking services including CV support and interview coaching ➡️ Community Housing Advocacy Project (CHAP) – with Multiply support to help empower individuals and families by improving their numeracy, budgeting, and financial literacy skills ➡️ Community ESOL North Ayrshire team – helping ‘English Speakers of other languages’ to develop their language skills, meet new friends in their community and overcome barriers ➡️ Developing the Young Workforce - Ayrshire – the team leading a Scottish Government strategy with an aim of helping young people into employment ➡️ Equal Supported Employment in North Ayrshire – offering a wide range of tailored support to get people back into work, start work for the first time or take a step up the career ladder (part of the council’s Your Next Move, Working North Ayrshire employability programme) ➡️ Locality teams – part of the council’s Community Learning and Development and North Ayrshire Virtual Community Centre team, with info on community groups, support and volunteering opportunities available in your area ➡️ Money Matters team – welfare rights advisors from North Ayrshire Council offering benefits and entitlements advice/support ➡️ MCR Pathways – with information on how to become a mentor for young people and how to access mentoring in secondary schools ➡️ North Ayrshire Active Schools – providing opportunities for young people to participate in physical activity and sports ➡️ North Ayrshire Corporate Parenting team – hosting the event and sharing the council’s progress as corporate parents to #KeepThePromise to care experienced young people ➡️ Other corporate parents – including community reps from K:A Leisure, Police Scotland Ayrshire and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service ➡️ Skills Development Scotland – offering tailored skills advice and information on their extensive network of Scottish employers ➡️ The Ayrshire Community Trust (TACT) – with information on the voluntary sector and current community action projects and programmes that are making a difference locally ➡️ Your Next Move Working North Ayrshire – North Ayrshire Council’s employability service with representatives from our Modern Apprenticeships team and North Ayrshire Youth Services team ➡️ Local employers – including #AccountantInBankruptcy and local hairdresser Haus Of Seisay 🌟 Further info can be found in the news release: north-ayrshire.gov.uk/news/save-the-… #YourNextMove #employability #careexperienced #WelfareRights #uncrcnorthayrshire

Pension Age Disability Payment is now open for applications in Aberdeenshire, Angus, Clackmannanshire, Dundee City, East Ayrshire, Falkirk, Fife, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles), North Ayrshire, Perth and Kinross, South Ayrshire and Stirling. Find out more ⬇️

Pension Age Disability Payment is open for NEW applications in North Ayrshire. It's replacing Attendance Allowance in Scotland. If you receive Attendance Allowance from the DWP you don't need to do anything, you will transfer to Pension Age Disability Payment.

The resulting £5 billion “savings” from the benefits green paper will be the biggest cuts to disability benefits on record, increasing poverty in the UK! The following is a summary of the headline proposed social security benefit reforms. disabilityrightsuk.org/news/green-pap…

Parents! If you earn under 80k, you could you be missing out on cash 💷 The amount you or your partner can earn before you start paying the High Income Child Benefit Charge has increased to £60k. Claim online or in the HMRC app. ⬇️ gov.uk/child-benefit/…